As a wedding photographer I always have to make sure that my clients trust me. This trust allows me to take some stress off the bride, make her feel comfortable around me and be natural in front of my camera. I however noticed, that once this level is reached, I stop being just a photographer and become a friend, which puts an additional responsibility on me. A lot of the times I find myself bewildered by the things my brides entrust to me and feel completely incompetent to give an opinion. Hair, makeup, dresses, veils are brought in front of me for evaluation. I love you my dear ladies for this precious gift of trust!
To be better prepared for the upcoming weddings and most importantly to be a better friend to my brides, I am starting the series of posts about all the questions I did not have an answer to. The first topic is:
Ask Your Photographer About Makeup
Steadily moving towards my fast-approaching big 30 I never spent time learning about makeup and skincare products. “One should never go to bed with makeup on” is the only rule I knew about healthy skin treatment and the rule I managed to neglect systematically. There was absolutely nobody to put me to shame until I met Arlene Walter, an advocate of healthy living, speaker and skincare consultant working for Arbonne, a Swiss-technology-based line of organic makeup.
Arlene together with Kathleen Donneys (bridal makeup specialist) came to our Miami studio for a photoshoot, which turned out to be quite educational for me. Impressed by everything I learned, I thought it would be great to share some tips with other women, and especially the brides who simply have to look good for their big day.
This is what I learned:
1. Once again, you cannot go to bed with your makeup on, if you want to have healthy skin. This is what any beautician would tell you. If you ask me, there is always a way to go around this. Organic foundations are lighter and contain no fats, toxins or chemicals. The primer we used for the photoshoot protects the skin and the foundation allows your skin to breathe and nourishes it at the same time. Obviously I had to test the product before blogging about it and went to bed with my makeup on. Not only the foundation stayed flawless throughout the night, it made my skin very smooth in the morning after I washed it off. Those of you who saw me at the Soho Beach House last Sunday know this: I intentionally slept with my foundation on the night before!
2. Healthy skin comes from healthy habits. To look good on your wedding day, start preparing in advance. As a photographer I say: be habitually healthy at least for five days before your wedding day, this should do it.
3. “Good” is not always expensive. Brand makeup contains high levels of chemicals to insure longer product shelf-life. Arbonne is Vegan-certified, which means it only contains natural ingredients and it hasn’t been tested on rabbits. (I would actually love to know how does one go about testing lipsticks and blushes on rabbits – they are just too fluffy!)
Overall I find Arbonne makeup to be perfect for the wedding day. It allows you to create a truly natural and pure look that goes so well with the symbolism of the white dress and at the same time leaves your skin smooth and nourished after you take it off.
I am not here today to make you throw your Chanel down the drain, I am simply sharing what I learned from my friend Arlene, who at her fifties has the most amazing smooth and healthy looking skin – the results that could not be attained over one night.
For you I have a wonderful surprise. You get a chance to win Arbonne eye shadow we used on our model during the photoshoot. Just leave a comment saying why you want to win, what else you would like to know about the makeup, or any interesting though that pumped into your mind after reading the post. (Don’t forget to mention which one of the three colors you like: Snow, Petal or Lilac) I will select the most interesting comment and send the prize to the lucky winner.
